Butt-hinged structure



y 1938- H. J. KOERNER 2,115,816

BUTT HINGED STRUCTURE Filed Dec. 17, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Tic E.

Patented May 3, 1938 UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to butt-hinged structures, useful typically forthe hinging of a rear gate or tailboard to the body member or floor of awagon or truck; and the invention includes the herein described methodof manufacture of the described butt-hinged structure. In addition touse on vehicles the invention may have a wider use, wherever a gate orflap is to be hinged to the edge of any relatively large body orsupport, Whether a floor, table, shelf or other support.

The conventional butt hinge comprises complementary members, namely, thetwo metal leaves, plates or straps, connected by knuckle joints, thatis, by hinge projections on both of the leaf members entering thenotches or spaces between the projections or knuckles of the othermember, with a pivot pin or so-called pintle extended through all theknuckles, placed in alinement, thus completing the hinge. A typicalprior art example of a butt hinge is that shown in expired patent of R.P. Dunham No. 836,102 of November 20, 1906, wherein a support or wagonfloor has attached to it one hinge member lfl, while the swingable gateor fiap 9 has a similar hinge member i0, both hinge members being ofU-shape, overlapping as to their knuckles and notches, andinterconnected by a rod or pintle threaded through the knuckles. Whilethis butt hinged structure permits the swinging movements of the gate orflap it is not entirely satisfactory, in that there is no completecircular bearing surface between the pintle and the leaves, the latterbeing U-shaped and contacting only about half of the circumference ofthe pintle, causing looseness, weakness and wear.

The'gencral object of the present invention is to afford an improvedbutt-hinged structure 7 adaptable to the uses outlined and of superioroperation, ruggedness and wearing qualities. Other and further objectsand advantages will be explained in the hereinafter followingdescription of one or more embodiments of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a top plan view of part of asupporting body or vehicle bottom, with a flap or gate hinged thereto inaccordance with the principles of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the structure of Fig. l, on alarger scale, taken on the broken section line 2--2 of Fig. 1, andbroken away for condensation.

Fig. 3, on the same scale with Fig. 1, shows a detached portion of thestructure, suitably broken away to disclose the structure more fully.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3;this figure, like Figs. 1, 2 and 3, showing the flap or tailboard heldhorizontal, in alinement with the Vehicle floor, and

Fig. 4 shows also in dotted. lines the upswing and downswung positionsof the flap.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 in top view and on a scale between those of Figs. 1 and2 show separately the hinge leaf on the truck floor, the hinge pintle,

and'the hinge leaf or straps on the fiap or tailboard.

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are longitudinal sectional views of the parts shown inFigs. 5, 6 and 7 respectively.

Fig. 11, in perspective, shows a modified form of leaf or strap piece onthe swinging flap or tailboard.

Fig. 12 is a top plan view, and Fig. 13 a vertical sectional view on theline l3- l3 of Fig. 12, showing an apparatus for and illustrating themethod of manufacture of the butt hinge construction of the otherfigures.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4 the support or wagon fioor or bottom 20may be composed of wood or other suitable material. Upstanding adjacentthe side edges of the bottom are the wagon or truck sides 2|. A swinginggate, fiap or tailboard 23 may also be composed mainly of wood and ishinged tothe truck floor 20 to swing from a raised, upright or closedposition as seen in Fig. 4 in dotted lines, to a horizontal loading oroperating position as shown in full lines, and preferably therebeyond toa depending or downswung position, also shown in dotted lines.

For heavy trucking purposes it is desirable to reenforce the flap ortailboard 23, and it is shown as covered or armored at its under side bya sheet metal sheathing 24 indicated as bent up around the wood interiorat all four edges. The upper rear corner of the tailboard receives greatwear in use and is shown reenforced by an angle iron 25 covering theback edge of the tailboard flap and the margin of its, top face. Theangle iron may be permanently secured by rivets or screws, aided by thebolts 44 hereinafter to be described.

Coming now to the butt hinge construction, and referring additionally toFigs. 5 to 10, the pintle or pivot pin 28 is shown as a hollow rod orshaft, and is preferably composed of a preformed pipe, as a length of,wrought iron pipe, sufficient to engage all of the hinge knuckles to bedescribed.- It may be roughly machined to suitable roundness andsmoothness, as also may be the contacting surfaces of the surroundingknuckles, for a fair fit, no great accuracy being desirable.

The requirement is, for a large gate or swinging tailboard or the like,to afford a hinge structure of great ruggedness to stand the batteringit receives, which is smooth-operating, substantially free fromlooseness and wear, relatively inexpensive to build as compared with afully machined job, and having the smooth top surface of the butt typeof hinge.

On the vehicle fioor, the first butt hinge member includes the steel orsheet metal leaf or plate 35 fastened down by bolts 3| having fiushheads above, with securing nuts 32 below. The hinge leaf or plate 30 isnot bent U-shape as in the prior patent referred to, but is a fiatplate, and it has its rear edge integrally united with a knuckle 34, ora plurality of such knuckles, each providing a complete annular wall,and therefore an interior bearing surface which is complete and receivesthe pintle 28, with suitable lubrication, for easy and accurate hingemovements, substantially free of loose play and without wear. Thus thefigures show three such knuckles 34, each constituting a preformedlength of wrought steel or iron tubing or pipe, cut to length andintegrally united to the plate 20, preferably by welding as will befurther described, the weld line 35 being indicated in Fig. 8 andelsewhere. Between the hinge knuckles 34 of the leaf 30 are spaces ornotches 31, and beyond the final knuckles, at each end, are open notches38; all of such notches adapted to receive the knuckles of the otherhinge member.

On the swingable flap or tailboard the hinge leaf, carrying knuckles,may consist of a continuous plate, like the leaf 30 already described,but for convenience is shown as aseries of straps or metal strips 40,four of them being shown properly spaced corresponding with the notches31 and 38 of the floor hinge member. Each of the hinge straps 40 may beof U-shape, having an upper leg or strip 41 on topof the flap 23, alower leg or strip 42 under the flap, and a U-bend 43 connecting them,this U-bend constituting the knuckle, engaging one of the notches 3'I'or38 of the complementary hinge part. The hinge straps 49 are stronglyattached to the flap or tailboard by bolts 44, flush above and withattaching nuts 45 below. Preferably, as shown, the wood body of the flapcontains shallow recesses or depressions within which the straps 40 areaccommodated, so that the entire top surface of the flap is flush andeven.

The diameters of the pintle 28 and of the pipe or tube sections orknuckles 34 and 43 may be so selected, as shown, that the metal hingeparts have a thickness about the same as that of the truck fiap,simplifying the structure, but the invention is not confined to thisrelation of dimensions. As an example, the pintle may be about 1%;inches in outside diameter and somewhat smaller inside, which theknuckles are slightly over 1 inches in inside diameter and about 1%inches outside. The plate or leaf 30 may be of an inch thick and thetruck floor 1% inches thick. The tailboard may be 1%; inches thick, withthe inch strap part 4| countersunk therein above and part 42 outstandingbelow.

The hinge parts are assembled by alining the knuckles and threading thepintle through them. The pintle may be confined endwise by closures 46at the ends, see Figs. 1 and 7, for example a welded disk closing theright end, Fig. 1, and a similar disk or detachable closure at the otherend, preventing outsliding.

In lieu of the U-shape straps 40 described, a different structure may beused as shown in Fig. 11, wherein each strap 48 is integral with orwelded to a short preformed pipe length or knuckle 49, thus obviatingthe need of an underneath strap leg 42 as in the first describedstructure. Or, the welded strap may be used inverted, with lower legonly. In either case a complete circular bearing surface is afforded,preventing looseness and rattling of the flap on the hinge pintle.

A suitable means, as a chain 5 I, may be used to hold the flap ortailboard in its horizontal or full line position of Fig. 4, andconventional means also will be understood for the purpose of holdingand locking the tailboard in its raised or closed position.

A fixture, jig or apparatus for manufacturing the hinge members is shownin Figs. 12 and 13. Upon base plates 55 are attached other parts,including a converging or V-channeled rest or holder 56, welded to thebase, for supporting the preformed knuckles or pipe sections 34. Frameparts 5'! are upright plates, welded to the base. Top cross pieces 58and 59 are welded to the uprights and constitute a table to support themetal leaf or plate 39 to be welded to the pipe sections. The crosspiece 59 is a heavy bar with threaded vertical bores at its ends. Aswinging holddown piece 50 can partly overlie the plate to be welded,and is apertured. Above the holddown is a washer Bl. Extending downthrough the washer and holddown and the bore of the bar 59 is a clampingbolt 92 threaded into the bar. A hand piece or crank 63 is at the top ofthe bolt.

In operation, the preformed tube sections or knuckles 34 are laid in theV-channel 56 and the plate 34 is laid on the table 58, 59 and drawnforward into relation to the knuckles. The contacting edge of the platemay be beveled for optimum contact with the cylindrical exterior of theknuckles as shown. The knuckles must be longitudinally adjusted and.spaced according to their desired position, for which spacers may beinserted between them. The straps 40 or 48 may be used as spacers thusensuring proper final fit.

When correct relation of plate and knuckles is attained the handle 63 isturned to clamp forcibly the plate upon the knuckles. The surfaceshaving been cleaned are ready for welding. Any welding method may beused, as electric line welding. Preferably torch welding is used, anintense flame softening the contiguous parts, and surplus ferrous metalbeing presented, melted and applied to reinforce the joint and producestrengthening fillets as shown. Straps as in Fig. 11 may be similarlywelded.

I claim:

1. In a butt-hinged structure in combination with a support or fioor,and a swingable tailboard, a butt-hinge connecting the support andtailboard, and comprising hinge members attached to the support andtailboard respectively, said members having attaching leaves andinterengaging knuckles and notches, with a pintle engaged in the alinedknuckles; and characterized in that the knuckles of at least one of thehinge members consist of preformed sections of cylindrical metal tubingof closed annular cross section, the same integrallywelded to the hingeleaves.

2. In a structure as in claim 1, a single leaf in the form of a plateattached to the support or floor, to which plate are welded, in spacedarrangement to afford notches, and in accurate alinement, the severalpreformed tubular knuckle sections, forming complete alined bearings forthe interior pintle.

3. In a structure as in claim 1, with preformed leaf and knuckles weldedtangentially together, a reinforcement consisting of surplus metalunited to the leaf and each knuckle in the interior corner between them.

1 HERMAN J. KOERN'ER.

